Sundance, Todd Oldham partner on film festival merchandise

The merchandise collaboration between Todd Oldham and the Sundance Institute includes "Sundance Film Festival A to Z" art book, at left, $25, and an infant onesie, right, $20.

The merchandise collaboration between Todd Oldham and the Sundance Institute includes "Sundance Film Festival A to Z" art book, at left, $25, and an infant onesie, right, $20. (Sundance Institute)

Adam Tschorn

For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off Jan. 17, organizers have tapped fashion and interior designer Todd Oldham to create a line of limited-edition merchandise including apparel, accessories and and an art book.

Oldham, who won the CFDA's Perry Ellis Award for emerging talent in 1991 and has worked with an impressive list of brands in the decades since, including the likes of Escada, Old Navy, Target and La-Z-Boy, is apparently a longtime festival fan, telling the Inside Sundance Institute magazine that he used to attend it, with his mother, as a kind of "art holiday." (And although Oldham has worked with the organization in the past, he's never collaborated on a full-blown merchandise program like the current one.

The Todd Oldham for the Sundance Film Festival collection includes zippered pouches, pencil cases, messenger bags, iPad cases and wallets crafted from last year's black-and-yellow vinyl street banners and notebooks upcycled from last year's festival guides.

Apparel offerings include riffs on the festival's arrow logo on knit beanies, T-shirts, sweat shirts and even an infant's onesie -- perfect for the aspiring li'l director in your Sundance posse.

Oldham has also compiled an art book titled "Sundance Film Festival A to Z," which chronicles the history and notable people of the festival via the 26 letters of the alphabet, each illustrated by a different artist. The letter "N," for example, lists director Shirin Neshat, director/writer Christopher Nolan and the film "Napoleon Dynamite," accompanied by Jean Kim's illustration that cleverly manages to reference all three.

Although all of the above merchandise has been available to the general public via the festival's e-commerce site since Dec. 17, those headed to Utah for the 10-day film festival will have the chance to buy additional artist-edition merch (including buttons, patches, tote bags and T-shirts) designed by an eclectic list of contributors that includes -- but is in no way limited to -- John Waters, Susan Sarandon, Morgan Spurlock and Amy Sedaris and available only at the festival's on-site stores (a complete list, with hours of operation, can be found here.)